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Candles

Tragic realities of homelessness

  • 2 min read |
  • Posted by Justlife
  • On 20 August 2014
Although we tend to report success stories and good news on the website, that’s not the full picture. Everyday Justlife staff deal with complex situations with vulnerable adults living in precarious and dangerous situations. Over the past month we have had several stark reminders of the realities faced by too many homeless and vulnerably housed people, and we are sad to share with you that three Justlife service users have sadly died.We aren’t going to disclose details of these deaths, except to say that they did not die in their 70s and 80s. Their lives were all cut short.If you follow Justlife’s work you will know that:“most homeless people do not sleep in the street. [If you were homeless] You would most likely be sofa surfing, squatting, staying in hostels or being passed around B&Bs by the local council. During this period you would also now be three times more likely to go to hospital, 13 times more likely to be a victim of violence and 47 times more likely to be victims of theft. One in 10 would have been sexually assaulted in the past year. One in five would have been robbed. Your life-span would be reduced from a healthy 81 years to just 47.” (http://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2013/oct/29/homeless-sleep-out-charity?CMP=twt_gu)Our staff and volunteer team work tirelessly, alongside other organisations, to support our service users, helping them to live more safely and positively. As well as reflecting on the tragic realities of homelessness we are thankful for the support that we are able to provide and our ability to intervene in life threatening situations everyday.We hope that you are able to spare some thoughts for the Justlife team and service users during this sad time.Thank you for your ongoing support of Justlife.
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